I took both AP Calc AB and BC grade:4 for both
@Kentriko You don’t need Math 1A. Math 1B you may or may not skip. That’s a judgement call which I previously addressed. If you already know what you got on Calc BC, then you’re probably currently taking community college courses right now which are already getting you ahead and you can just keep going and go back if in the first few weeks of a new class, you have no idea what’s going on and need to go back to Math 1B. If you aren’t currently taking community college courses and it’s been a year since you took AP calc, a refresher in Math 1B might be useful.
Mathematics
Calculus AB: Satisfies Mathematics 1A. (Note: Students with a score of 3 are encouraged to take Math 1A at Berkeley.)
Calculus BC: Satisfies Mathematics 1A.
Calculus BC: Score of 4 or 5 satisfies Mathematics 1A and Mathematics 1B.
how hard is it to get into the social science (cognitive science major) as a transfer from a ccc?
Walter924 thank you for the detailed responses. They are very helpful. I appreciate your help.
Does anyone know when the Berkeley transfer decision will be announced? Or does anyone got admitted recently for transfer decision?
@Kevin19970520 Transfer comes out between March 1 and April 27th.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/2001896-uc-berkeley-transfer-thread-2018.html#latest
This thread should be useful.
Is Berkeley’s notorious grade deflation an actuality? How difficult is it to receive an A at Berkeley (within the social sciences / humanities)?
Thank you so much for these amazing responses!!! //// Also, I have a question: How much would you say, does an average student spend monthly? Living expenses, eating out, personal needs, etc etc.
@armsai Everyone who’s applying to Berkeley thinks that grade deflation is such a big deal, but it’s not. The only purpose of grades once you’re in college is to have a high enough GPA to be admitted into you’re major (2.0 if not capped, 2.5 to 3.3 if capped) and internships (want a 3.3-3.5 or so if they require a good GPA). What you really need is a B+ average at the most. Okay, so most classes try to stay in a 25% A and 40% B range. You are taking classes in stuff that you’re good in, while other people are taking the class for fun or for a breadth. It’s not all that hard to get a B. Getting an A usually requires you to study until you know the topics forwards and backwards, which is semi-easy if you’re taking Math 1B after taking Calc BC, but harder if you are weak in writing and taking a class where everyone else is pretty good at writing, but hopefully that’s not a major requirement class, just a breadth, and you can take it pass/no pass (long sentence. sorry).
The short answer is it requires effort and a bit of talent, but it’s not a rare occasion a lot of people. If you got all As in high school, you’re going to get Bs pretty often, but you’ll get enough As to tide you over.It’ll be fine.
@pamcookingspray I live in the dorms and I spend 20$ a week, so 80$ a month (which is for getting a drink from a cafe once a week, going to acapella/plays/SF etc on the weekends, maybe a farmers market crepe every few months), but I do most of my clothes shopping etc when I go home.
When it’s not 9 am, I’ll ask some more people (mostly in the dorms) for you. I’m on the low end because I don’t eat out and I’m using my work savings mostly. It’s probably closer to 40$ or more with eating out and more clothes shopping during the school year.
@pamcookingspray How much would you say, does an average student spend monthly? Living expenses, eating out, personal needs, etc etc.
Ana from lounge: Have a $500 budget, on food and other expenses. She eats out a lot and cooks her own food a lot.
My roommate Ana: 100-150$ on food
My roommate Emily: 300-400$ on food and shopping
Maria from lounge: 300-400$ on food. Eats out a lot.
Alex: Gets 80$ from parents a month. Spends 0-45$ a week, so up to 180$ a month on coffee and vitamins.
It’s a big range depending on how much you use your meal points, how much you eat out, and how much shopping you do or concerts you go to.
So 80-180$ with little to no eating out. 300$-500$ if barely use meal points, cook own food and/or eat out a lot.
Wow you people who are already at Cal are really helpful with your info! Is there maybe anything for a hopeful Public Health major applicant?
I know it’s a capped major and I’m always hearing about how important it is to keep a high gpa if I want to apply for the program. Do you guys recommend me not using AP credit so that I could maybe have some sort of a boost? I heard about really hard bio classes bio 1a and 1al?
Is the fall program for freshman something I should consider taking?
Also, I hear great things about Clark Kerr, but for PH would that dorm be ok in terms of being close to classes?
Sorry if I’m asking a lot about a major you all may not be familiar with! Any help is greatly appreciated!
@armsai
Is Berkeley’s notorious grade deflation an actuality? How difficult is it to receive an A at Berkeley (within the social sciences / humanities)?
Within social sciences and humanities I’d say A’s are easier to get than in STEM classes. The GPA caps are usually a lot lighter, and not as many weeder courses to get yourself through. However, overall in my opinion grade deflation is real. A lot of smart people go to Cal, which means in classes where only a percentage of people are supposed to get A’s or B’s means that a lot of people who would get higher grades elsewhere struggle, leading to frustration.
@pamcookingspray
Outside the dorms:
Living: $600-$800 for a double, $900-1,100 for a single
Utilities (if not included): $50
Food: $200-$300
Personal Care (Laundry, soap, detergent, hair cuts, hair product, etc.): $25-$50
Clothes: $50
Books: $50-$400 (always look to rent online, the store will almost always be more expensive)
Entertainment: $20-$150 (depending on lifestyle, if you go out to movies, go to concerts, go to SF it’ll be more than if you’re the type to stay in and study more often)
Pocket Cash: $50 (Possibly travel back home, charger breaking, put towards fixing laptop, misc. fund)
Total Expected: ~$1,200 a month - ~$2,200 a month
Of course if you live on ramen, rent all your books online, have your parents support you with personal care items and clothes, live in a triple, stay inside and live frugally, you can live on less. If you go shopping multiple times a week, want a sweet $1,800 a month apartment to yourself, head to raves in SoCal, have a car and pay insurance, etc. you spend more. But I think these are generally reasonable ranges, and you can look at each item and determine how much of it you think that you’d use, and make your best judgement.
@AYF9510
Why not use AP credit? I say use as much of it as you can. Either you skip some prerequisites and have more time to take classes that will make you stand out, or you use the units and give yourself more time to do extracurricular stuff to make yourself stand out.
Bio 1A and 1B are weeder classes as far as I know, difficult for some easier for others, but definitely a fair amount of work from what I’ve seen.
If you’re talking about FPF, it’s generally for those who were accepted to the University conditionally that they took some classes off campus in the fall. This is so classes don’t get too full in the fall, then when some people graduate in december, the FPF people come to campus. From what I saw didn’t make a big difference, but if you have a choice I guess I’d recommend going straight to campus classes.
Clark Kerr is pretty, and walking to class is probably about 20-25ish minutes. Unit 3 is probably the closest with a 10-15 minutes to most classes. Sometimes you’ll be walking back and forth multiple times a day. It does help with getting a bit of exercise though which can be hard to get at Cal if you’re not into rec sports or going to the gym a lot. Up to personal preference.
@AYF9510 I know it’s a capped major and I’m always hearing about how important it is to keep a high gpa if I want to apply for the program. Do you guys recommend me not using AP credit so that I could maybe have some sort of a boost? I heard about really hard bio classes bio 1a and 1al?
Everyone takes Bio 1B first because it’s the easier ecology/evolution/plant stuff. It’s good review and can be a grade booster, and you need to retake it anyways if you’re premed. But not taking it can help you graduate earlier. First semester, don’t take Bio 1A, see how you’re doing in classes and judge for yourself whether it would be a good idea. It’s too early for you to judge that unless you have a strong opinion one way or another.
Is the fall program for freshman something I should consider taking?
Pros: Usually have smaller class sizes. Get to know more people better
Cons: Limited classes. FPF in San Fransisco is not a good idea if you don’t already live in San Fransisco/ You live in the dorms. Those people had to take a bus and the BART to SF every day, like a 30 minute commute each way, nowhere to use meal points for lunch, stuck in SF until your last class is over. If you do FPF, do the Berkeley one or do the global one, but not the SF one.
Also, I hear great things about Clark Kerr, but for PH would that dorm be ok in terms of being close to classes?
Exercise! AKA I live in Clark Kerr and walk an average of 4 miles a day. I can eat what I want and not bother with exercise. (That’s just me)
It’s just for a year. It’s big rooms. The bus comes pretty often. Freshman year you’re probably taking breadth classes and large classes. I like it. It’s not that far.
thanks for the responses! @OskiGrad @Walter924 I’m not planning on premed but I might still just take bio1b first and see how it goes, I also will strongly consider Clark Kerr for the exercise! As long as if it’s safe I don’t mind a walk 
Out of curiosity how competitive is it to get admitted into cal as a pre-haas major? I know that pre-haas is actually just undeclared L&S but is it still really difficult to get into (I’m assuming many people apply to it because it has “haas” in the name)?
@preciouscanoe For L&S, I’m pretty sure that they don’t look at the major when determining admittance. Saying that your major is pre-Haas will have no impact on whether or not you’re admitted.
I think that’s what they claim, but I’m quite certain that is false. You are more likely to be accepted to a humanities major than cs in L&S. They have to still take major into consideration, but it’s just one of the little “secrets” they don’t say I think. Just curious on the popularity of the pre-haas major (like amount of freshmen who choose it) because I’m assuming if more people are applying to it, it should be harder to get?
@preciouscanoe I think from the numbers I saw, the acceptance rate to Haas is about 30% for Berkeley students. Which means that 70% of Berkeley applicants have to pick another major. For me it’s a scary thought because I’m one of the pre-Hass L&S applicants.
@preciouscanoe I think that saying you’re pre-Haas is pretty similar to saying that you’re econ because they’re interchangeable. CS is probably the only major in LS that they mildly pay attention to and I still think that they don’t care all that much because of CS’s weeder class.
Pre-Haas is not harder to get. It’s like saying you’re pre-med. A lot of people say they are, but when it gets down to it, you all still have to apply and get in. Putting your major as pre-Haas is more comparable to putting English or Biology than putting EECS or CS.
Haas is a risk, like collegefind1234 said. Joining pre-Haas clubs and getting good grades helps your chances.
@Walter924 - Thank you for the info! What pre-Haas clubs could you recommend looking into?